Tag Archives: Ayisha Issa

Post navigation

Zoie Palmer as Jann’s sister Max in the CTV comedy JANN. Production on Season 2 began in Calgary earlier this month

Zoie Palmer (The Android) will be Kara Boswick in Chris Rock’s UNTITLED SAW PROJECT (working title “The Organ Donor”). Only one other character named Kara has appeared in the SAW films. Her last name was never mentioned, and it is not known if Palmer’s character is related to her. She died in SAW 3D. Chris Rock stars in the film as Zeke, a police detective investigating gruesome crimes. Samuel L. Jackson co-stars as Zeke’s father, and Rock’s partner, William Schenk, will be played by Max Minghella (Nick Blaine on THE HANDMAID’S TALE). K.C. Collins (Hale on LOST GIRL) appears as Detective Drury. Directed by Darren Bousman (who directed SAW II, III, and IV), THE ORGAN DONOR will be in US theatres on 15 May.

DARK MATTER – Season 3 Episodes 5 and 6 – SPOILERS

Android and alt-Android work out a deal to end the standoff between the alt-Raza crew and the Raza.

While searching for a very important data file, Maro, Two, and Three become trapped in one of Tabor Calchek’s safe houses. The Android rescues them by offering the guard droid (Michael Ayres) the same upgrade she obtained from Victor. She intends to let him decide whether to accept the upgrade, but Three is in a hurry and stuns the droid, leaving the upgrade chip behind so that the droid (who posesses no personal designation) can decide about it later. The guard droid had already attempted (unsuccessfully) to contact Calchek, and his messages could have been intercepted. Revealing herself in this way could come back to bite The Android, and may be the reason she is eventually apprehended by the Galactic Authority. (see previous post)

Three seems to be increasingly and obviously attracted to The Android. Possibly his new relationship with Virtual Sarah has been a positive influence on him. The Android, since her upgrade, has flirted with Three on at least two occasions (see episodes 2.4 and 2.7).

The Raza is hunting the data file for two reasons. Two wants it because it contains information about a secret Ferrous Corp shipyard. Maro wants it so he can rescue Ambrosia (Anna Hopkins). It turns out that the duplicitous Ambrosia is such a disappointment to Maro that he decides to leave the Raza. Solara leaves with him. Two gets the data file.

Solara (Ayisha Issa) tells Five a bit of her personal history. She grew up in a monastery. “I was a prioress of the Seventh Order of Chandarity,” she says. “Under the protection of the Abbot of Daro.” Though they were trained in the martial arts, the monks (who subscribed to a pacifist philosophy) fell victim to bandits, and all of them died. Solara describes what happened. “I was on a pilgrimage to a nearby shrine, and while I was gone, some bandits broke into the temple and stole some very valuable manuscripts. They killed everybody inside the place. I guess they didn’t want to leave any witnesses. You know, I must have just missed them, because when I got back, the bodies were still warm. I tracked the bandits into the woods, Then I waited till nightfall. I snuck into their camp and and I slit all of their throats while they were sleeping.”

Five (Jodelle Ferland) and The Android have the best fashion sense of anyone on the Raza. Reproductions of what they wear should be made generally available.

It is a bit suspicious that Solara should return so soon after the monks were killed, but it might have happened that way. It is even more suspicious that a person who spent her entire life in a monastery would so easily abandon pacifist principles and not only kill several people, but do so by stealth. This is the work of an experienced assassin, not the prioress of an abbey.

The church still makes a distinction between a prior and a prioress in the DARK MATTER universe.

We find out that the entire crew of the alt-Raza hitched a ride to the Raza’s universe in the alt-Marauder. Alt-Two hijacks a Zairon warship, double-crosses Truffault, and steals some missiles that were supposed to be delivered. Two gets back on the good side of Truffault after recovering Mikkei’s missiles. Alt-Two then makes an alliance with Ferrous Corp. This potentially places Two and alt-Two on opposite sides of a war.

What alt-Android sees from the bridge of the stolen Zairon ship during the confrontation between Five and alt-Tash. That flamingo shirt must have sentimental value...

Five tries to be reasonable with alt-Tash who is threatening to destroy the Raza, and fails because alt-Tash doesn’t care if two of her crew mates die in the process. Fortunately, alt-Android is very reasonable, and shoots alt-Tash in the back. In this scene, Five wears the mysterious flamingo shirt. (There is likely a market for reproductions of the outfits worn by Jodelle Ferland and Zoie Palmer on DARK MATTER. Someone should make them available.)

Six seems to (unknowingly) be Agent Zero, Ferrous Corp’s secret weapon against the Independent Colonies. When the Raza returns to Cepheus-8 for a visit, scans from orbit show no communications activity and a lot of dead bodies on the ground. It might be that Six was (at some point in his past) made into a biological weapon by Ferrous Corp (in conjunction with either The General or the Galactic Authority). Could it be that, when activated, Six’s body manufactures a deadly airborne pathogen to which he is immune, and which becomes inert after a specified time period?

Ennis Esmer (Wexler) will be Charlie Durant in the science-fiction drama CLARA, the story of astronomer Issac Bruno (Patrick J. Adams), a man obsessed with finding extraterrestrial life while his personal life collapses around him. Then he meets Clara (Troian Bellisario), a young research assistant. As Clara brings more balance to Issac’s life, the two work together to make a profound scientific discovery. Writer/director Akash Sherman says that the film aims to deliver on scientific accuracy, “while telling a distinctly human and emotional story of self-discovery and love”. CLARA is currently filming in Toronto.

Jessica Sipos (Tash) will be Sarah Mercer in seven episodes of the second season of CHESAPEAKE SHORES. Sipos’ character will make her first appearance in Episode 2.2, titled “Deals Undone”, in which Mick nervously faces a failing business deal; Abby is subpoenaed in the investigation against Wes; Kevin recovers from his fall at home while at the same time struggling to define his future with Georgia (Ali Liebert); and Trace learns the warehouse property is still in reach. The first season can be streamed on the Hallmark Channel website. Season Two premieres Sunday 6 August at 9/8c on The Hallmark Channel.

DARK MATTER – Season 3 Episode 3 – SPOILERS

The Raza crew is summoned to a mining colony by their handler, Tabor Calchek, or so they believe. In reality, Calchek has already fled the war torn area and the message came from Adrian Maro (Mishka Thébaud), Calchek’s former assistant who is attempting to take over as the Raza crew’s handler, using the data Calchek left behind. Their first job assignment from Maro is to secure the independence of the Cepheus-8 mining colony from Traugott Corp.

Rachael Ancheril as Della, one of the leaders of the miners on Cepheus-8. Ancheril was Mattie Perley (The Blacksmith) in two episodes of WYNONNA EARP

Two years ago, in the DARK MATTER pilot, The Raza rescued another (unnamed) mining colony from Ferrous Corp. In this episode, miners are again rescued from the dire consequences of rebellion, but the episode is really about changing the makeup of the Raza’s crew. Two people were added to the ship’s complement at the start of last season. This time three are added to the Raza’s population, and one is subtracted.

Six shoots his nemesis The General, who for some reason is not in a clone body, so he actually dies. Six then elects to remain on the planet to fill the power vacuum created by The General’s death. Maro and his bodyguard Solara (Ayisha Issa) become residents of The Raza, effectively replacing Nyx and Six.

Sarah, the virtual incarnation of Three’s deceased ex, in her new habitat.

The Android discovers virtual Sarah’s hiding place in the ship’s computer. (Five should know better than to keep a secret from The Android.) Five didn’t want to disappoint people (mainly Three) if her experiment failed, and that is understandable. But The Android is quite intimate with the ship’s computer, will find out anyway, and could probably have been counted on as a co-conspirator in the experiment (unless what Five was doing threatened the ship). On that subject, when Sarah was discovered by The Android, her smile might have contained just a hint of malevolence. Virtual Sarah now officially inhabits the computer of The Raza. She can most likely use Transit Transfer and travel anywhere she wants, and if she does not turn out to be evil, she might become a very useful crew member.

Meanwhile, on Zairon, it seems that Emporer Ryo (formerly known as Four) is interviewing replacements for Misaki. We see a cadet (Wei Jen Lee) perform an elaborate sword dance for The Emporer. Ryo tells his advisor Teku that Misaki is off-world meeting with General Caius. This might be true, or Ryo may have killed her and disposed of her body where no one will find it. (See previous post.) In either event, he seems to be looking for a replacement for her.

Mining planets on DARK MATTER are very earthlike. On left is the unnamed minining planet rescued by Two in the DM pilot. On right is Cepheus-8, Six’s new home.

From Maro, Five learns that Calchek repped the original Raza crew, which consisted of Boon, Ryo, Shrike, and Jasper. “Wait,” says Five. “Shrike and Jasper? What happened to them?” Maro responds: “I can’t be sure, but I think Portia happened to them.” There most likely is a point to our learning about the original crew. Will the Raza time-travel back to meet them? (The blink drive was damaged by Ryo’s scientists and could malfunction when it is reattached to the Raza’s engines.) Or might they still be alive? Will Shrike and Jasper (or their former associates) be among those attacking The Raza later this season?

The most feared and formidable mercenaries in the galaxy assemble on Zairon. The one on the left with the green glow about him seems the most interesting.

At episode’s end, Ryo assembles the galaxy’s most “fearsome and formidable” mercenaries, bounty hunters, professional soldiers, and assassins. Their assignment, should they choose to accept it, is to recover the blink drive, and kill the crew of The Raza.

NOTES

Ayisha Issa (Solara Shockley) will be Naomi in EYE ON JULIET, a film written and directed by Kim Nguyen. The film tells the story of an unlikely encounter between Gordon, a remote guardian of a pipeline in the desert, and Ayusha (Lina El Arabi), a young woman from the Middle East. Gordon becomes fascinated by Ayusha while piloting his robotic hexapod from the other side of the world, but Ayusha is promised to an older man she doesn’t love.

Ayisha Issa as Adrian Maro’s bodyguard Solara Shockley. Both Maro and Shockley now live aboard the Raza...

EYE ON JULIET was filmed in the South of Morocco, then Montreal, and after that in Paris. “The game is worth the candle,” Nguyen said, adding: “I also want to approach this film with humor and irony, in spite of the geopolitical situation in the Middle East. We are evolving today in an atmosphere so polarized and tense that I feel the need to make this film with a certain lightness. I want to be able to smile about our differences.” There is no word yet on a release date.

Mishka Thébaud (Adrian Maro) will be Clint Spelling in the second episode of THE MIST, a horror series based on the novella of the same name by Stephen King. In King’s story, a small town and its residents are enveloped by an eerie mist containing mysterious and undefined threats. For those who missed the opening episode, it will be broadcast again on SpikeTV 24 June at 7pm. Episode 1.2 will air on Spike on 29 June at 10pm/9c.

Wei Jen Lee prepares to perform at the Taolu World Cup last year in China

Wei Jen Lee, who made her TV debut in this episode as an unnamed Ishida cadet summoned to perform for her Emporer, competed for Canada at the 1st Taolu World Cup in Fu Zhou, China last November. A video is avaiable on YouTube.

Michael Reventar (Ash) is Flaco in at least one episode of WISDOM OF THE CROWD, which is about Jeffrey Tanner (Jeremy Piven), a charismatic San Francisco tech icon. Driven by a need to find his daughter’s killer, Tanner creates an online platform for people around the world to submit and evaluate evidence for criminal investigations. Filmed at UBC in Vancouver, WISDOM OF THE CROWD premieres Sunday 1 October at 8:30/7:30c on CBS. A trailer is available on YouTube.